Pie in the Face
by United Profilers
Summary: Garcia brings a prank toy to work, and after a run in with Strauss, Morgan wants to try it out. Slight Hotch OOCness.


**I do not own Criminal Minds.**

**Slight Hotch OOCness.**

Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan snickered quietly as he slipped another stack of paperwork onto his coworker's pile. Even though it's something he's done for a long time now, he still can't hold back a grin. He quickly drew back to his own seat when Reid returned from the break room with a large, steaming cup of coffee, most likely filled with sugar. Whistling casually, Morgan pretended to read some papers while Spencer sat down. The younger man glanced suspiciously at the dark skinned agent. Thanks to his eidetic memory, he could easily tell that his amount of work grew a couple inches, not that it surprised him. It always seemed to happen when he wasn't around.

Of course, it wasn't just Morgan. Spencer knew that Prentiss had a habit of "sharing" some of her work as well. Even if he could still read it all before them, it tended to annoy him. He didn't like being used for his brain, except for when the job called for it. But part of his job isn't supposed to involve doing most of his colleagues work at the office.

After Garcia entered the bullpen and walked by, everyone couldn't help but notice the gift wrapped package in her arms. Derek asked the technical analyst what it was, she simply said it was a "surprise" and went into her office. Both Morgan and Reid were now curious as to what was inside. Penelope has been known to spoil their baby genius with 'presents', despite Spencer's protests and offers to pay for whatever she gets him, but she had already gotten him a new book a few days ago.

Getting out of his seat, Morgan headed straight for Garcia's office and knocked once before entering. The quirky woman twirled around in her chair to face him and greet him with a bright smile.

"Garcia, what's with the gift wrapped box?" Derek asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"Well, I was gonna wait till later, but because I like you, Derek Morgan, I'll tell you now." Garcia's smile became more forced after she sighed.

"Okay..." Morgan said, getting ready for whatever he was about to hear.

Garcia took a deep breath. "It's a prank toy."

Derek raised an eyebrow and stared at the seemingly harmless package. "What does it do?"

"Well, there's a spring inside, and when you open it, a pie will be flung in your face." Penelope explained.

"What? Seriously?" Morgan asked in disbelief.

"Seriously, my Chocolate Thunder."

The profiler carefully placed a finger on the gift wrapped box. "Is it loaded?" He asked warily.

"Fortunately, no. I didn't buy any ammo." Garcia said.

"It uses actual pies?" Morgan's eyes widened a little.

"Of course, silly!" Penelope chirped.

"Wow. The things they come up with these days." Derek shook his head before a grin began to appear on his face. "Say, mind if I try it out?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, Derek Morgan." Garcia started. "I don't need you causing any trouble, and I certainly don't want you to _get _in trouble."

"Just once?" Morgan asked.

"Sorry, Love Bunch," The technical analyst nabbed the box and shoved it under her desk, out of her friend's reach. "But this is off limits."

"Will you at least show me how it works?" Derek asked hopefully.

"Nada, I can tell when you're up to something."

"Penny, you wound me!" He said, acting surprised.

"I'm sure of that." Garcia said skeptically. "Now, out, out! We don't want boss man yelling at you for not doing your job." She pushed Morgan out to the bullpen and shut the door. He sighed and stalked back to his desk. Prentiss and Reid looked over when he returned. They both asked if he found out what Garcia had brought, after he told them, they were both surprised and confused.

"Then she hid it under her desk." Derek finished.

"Just as well." Spencer said.

"What's that supposed to mean, Pretty Boy?" The older agent asked suspiciously.

"Well, knowing you, you'd probably use it on somebody the first chance you got." Reid explained.

"Oh? Well. I'll show you." Morgan said determinedly. He turned towards his desk to start on more boring paperwork. The young genius sitting across from him rolled his eyes and restarted his own work, which seemed to have suddenly grown yet again.

"Emily!"

"What?"

**(Spencer Reid!)**

Erin Strauss walked out of her office, a noticeable scowl on her face. The three profilers at their desks dared to pass a brief glance at the seemingly fuming Section Chief. Morgan swallowed when he was approached.

"Agent Morgan." Strauss started.

"Yes, ma'am?" Derek managed to keep his voice calm.

"This workstation is a mess."

"I beg your pardon?" He frowned.

Spencer couldn't help but notice that his colleague's desk was in fact, somewhat untidy. Not that he would point that out at a moment like this. After Strauss ordered Morgan to "clean up his desk", she exited the bullpen.

Exhaling, Derek tossed the two candy wrappers in the nearby trash pail. "How did that woman ever become Section Chief?"

"You're answer's as good as mine." Prentiss shook her head.

It didn't take long for Reid to notice that Morgan started eyeballing Garcia's office every so often. It seemed almost too obvious that he was planning something. Spencer was tempted to say something, but he didn't want to appear like he was jumping to any conclusions. The occasional evil smirk that appeared on the older man's face definitely confirmed something was brewing in his head, and Spencer didn't like it.

When lunchtime rolled around, Kevin insisted taking Garcia to some fast food restaurant that had recently opened, Hotch left to meet with Jessica and Jack, the others, who had brought their own lunches, were relieved when Strauss headed off somewhere as well, though Morgan eventually disappeared from the bullpen, Reid had a pretty good idea where he went.

Derek didn't know how long Strauss was going to be gone, but he needed to be quick. Going as fast as the speed limit and traffic would allow him, he drove straight to the grocery store and made a beeline to the bakery. After retrieving a couple pies and purchasing them, Morgan couldn't keep back a few snickers as he got back into his car. Oh, he was going to lay one on Strauss big time. Sure, she would be awfully mad if she found out who was responsible, and Garcia probably would too, but this was Erin Strauss, a pie in the face would be just too priceless to pass by.

After arriving back at the FBI Headquarters, the profiler hurried back to the BAU's floor, hoping that neither Garcia nor Strauss had returned yet. His hopes were eagerly confirmed and he rushed to the technical analyst's office, ignoring a rather upset looking Spencer along the way. Closing the door, Morgan went to Penelope's desk and pulled out the prank box. He grabbed the lid and took it off, out came a rather large spring. The silly object bounced up and down a couple times, then Morgan placed one of the pies he got from the store onto it. He wished he had someone to try it out on first, just to make sure it worked right, but he didn't really have time for that.

Grabbing the other pie, he carried the loaded prank toy right to Strauss' still unoccupied office, and found a blank piece of paper and a pen. He taped it to the prank box and started to write.

_For you, my sweet._

_- A friend far away from here._

Looking over the short note, Derek grinned and placed the pen back where he found it. He quickly snuck out of the Section Chief's office and closed the door. When he turned around to head back to his desk, he came face to face with a suspicious looking Hotch.

Morgan jumped a little, not expecting to see his boss so soon, or at all for that matter. He was looking right at him with his usual stoic expression. Derek recomposed himself, ready to tell Aaron whatever he was waiting to hear.

"Morgan, what were you doing in Strauss' office?" Hotch asked.

"Uh, Strauss wanted to see me." Morgan lied. He hoped Hotch would believe him, even though she hadn't returned from lunch yet. He half desperately wished he could see a change in the BAU leader's face, just to tell what he was thinking.

"Strauss isn't even in yet, Derek." Hotch pointed out.

_Crap. _Morgan thought. "Well, um, I had something I was supposed to leave in there for her."

"Something?" Aaron questioned.

"Yeah," Morgan started to rub the back of his neck. "That's it."

"And what is it?"

"It's nothing important."

"If it's nothing important, why can't you tell me?"

Morgan gulped. He really didn't want Hotch to spoil his potential fun, but lying to him was a very hard thing to do, not because he knew it was bad, but because Hotch could see every damn movement when it came to profiling.

"It's... just a box." Morgan finally said.

"A box?" Hotch repeated.

"Yep," The younger man nodded a little too ferociously. "She needed it for something, so I went and got it for her."

"Is that why she was at your desk earlier?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah! That's it!" Morgan smiled, glad for the turn of events.

"I see." Hotch nodded slowly. "Lunch is almost over, maybe you should eat while you still can instead of running off to the store and buying pies."

Derek's smile vanished and he blushed a little. Without another word, Hotch went to the break room, leaving his awestruck agent to himself. At the moment, Morgan was sure his boss was smirking, not that it mattered now. Sighing, the dark skinned profiler trudged to the restroom. Turning on the sink, he washed his face and looked into the mirror. His cheeks still felt a little warm after Hotch seemingly caught him in a lie. Even if he knew about the pies, perhaps he didn't know about Garcia's prank toy?

Derek was hopeful that that might be the case as he reentered the bullpen and sat down in his chair. He noticed that Reid was gone, and for the second time today, he sat a few stacks of paperwork onto the young doctor's pile. Exhaling, Morgan sat back up and went to the break room, taking Hotch's advice to eat lunch before time was up. Aaron was in there, talking to Rossi about something that he didn't care to find out what. Going to the fridge, he opened it and pulled out a container with his name written on it. He grabbed a sandwhich and a can of soda that was inside and put the empty container back. By the time he got back to his desk, his sandwich was half eaten. He looked up the steps and saw Spencer leaving Hotch's office. He was wondering why the younger man was in there, maybe he was looking for him.

"Hotch is in the break room, Reid." Morgan said with a mouthful of food.

"Huh? Oh, I knew that." Reid stuttered. Rather than heading towards the break room like Morgan was expecting, Spencer returned to his desk, ignoring his increased stockpile of work.

"Didn't you need Hotch for something?" Derek asked.

"Hmm? Um, it can wait." The young agent said, refusing to look his co-worker in the eye.

Morgan was a little suspicious, what exactly was Reid doing in there? He felt like Hotch did earlier, which was a bit funny when he thought about it, but something just felt off, and he couldn't seem to get rid of it.

With a sigh he started to look at some of his paperwork he had yet to pass onto Reid. He looked over and saw Erin Strauss making a beeline to her office, he felt the sides of his lips turn upward when the Section Chief entered and closed the door. Hotch left the break room, and passed a glance toward the bullpen, satisfied to see his agents working instead of doing God knows what. After he went into his office and shut the door, Spencer cleared his throat.

"Hey, Morgan?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Let's just call this payback for all the times you made me do your paperwork."

"Okay- Wait, what?" Morgan was confused by what Reid just said, but before he had much of a chance to figure it out, a very loud _SPLAT! e_mitted from behind the closed door of Hotchner's office.

"MORGAN!"

"Reid!" Derek growled. He reached his arms out, intending to grab the younger agent, but he narrowly evaded his grasp. A door slammed open, revealing a clearly angry looking Hotch, who's face was smothered in whipped cream. Only his eyes and mouth were visible through the white substance, but it didn't require a profiler to tell that he was mad. Very mad.

Various people on the floor stopped and stared, either with shock, confusion or a hint of amusement. Derek sent Spencer a dirty look before running around the bullpen, with his boss in pursuit.

"Reid, if I get out of this alive, you are a dead man!" Morgan said as he literary jumped over a desk, Hotch miraculously managed to do the same as he made another attempt to tackle the younger man in front of him.

"Hotch, you look like you were in some Japanese play!" Prentiss laughed as the Unit Chief ran past her. Reid stood next to her, watching Morgan and Hotch run amok like a cat and a mouse. The sight was funny to say the least.

"Wait a minute," Emily started, turning to face Reid. "You were the one who put that whatever you call it in Hotch's office?"

"Yep." Spencer smiled. "This is my way of getting back at Derek for all the times he gave me all of his paperwork." He explained. "Besides, I didn't want him to get in trouble with Strauss."

"So, instead, you got him in trouble with Hotch." Prentiss pointed out.

"Oh." His smile disappeared once he realized his mistake.

"You did _what,_ Reid?" A voice snarled.

The young man immediately whimpered nervously when he turned to see the BAU leader right in his face, a little too close for comfort. He cast a brief gaze toward the doors where Morgan ran out of, then to the dark haired woman standing next to him.

"Thanks a lot, Emily." He grumbled before taking off, Aaron hot on his heels. They disappeared behind the doors, almost plowing over Garcia and Kevin who had just entered. The two were both equally confused as they watched Hotch chase after Reid until they vanished behind a corner. Penelope hurried into the bullpen, straight to her smirking colleague.

"Since when did the boss man start wearing a face mask? Is that why Reid and Morgan were running away?" She asked, causing Prentiss to burst out laughing.

"Well, let's just say if you plan on beating Derek for using your prank toy, Hotch will probably get to that before you have a chance." She grinned.

Garcia stared blankly at her friend. "Uh, what?"

Prentiss looked over to where Rossi was leaning against the railing. She and the Senior SSA passed a wink to each other, which the technical analyst failed to see.

"Oh, never mind."

**The End!**

**Yeah, this didn't come out entirely like I planned, but I hope you'll still enjoy.**


End file.
